1. What is DICOM?
DICOM is an acronym that represents Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine which is a standard that defines a communication protocol for the transmission, sharing, and storage of medical images.
The National Electrical Manufactures Association, also known as NEMA, holds the copyright to this standard.
You can find more information about the DICOM standard at their official website: http://medical.nema.org
2. What is HL7?
Health Level Seven is a Standards Developing Organization in the healthcare domain. HL7 produces protocols, or specifications, for clinical and administrative data in healthcare organizations. HL7 is accredited by ANSI. HL7 was founded in 1987. Their official website is: http://www.hl7.org
3. What is HL7 Messaging?
HL7 messaging is the collective name given to both the HL7 version 2.x series and HL7 version 3.0 message exchange protocol standards. HL7 messages are triggered by events, for example, a patient that is admitted would trigger an ADT type message. There are many types of HL7 messages, almost one for every known event.
4. What is "HL7 Programming"?
"HL7 programming" is a misnomer. HL7 is not a programming language such as: C# or Java. Recruiters often use this term in their job descriptions. They are basically asking if you are a developer with knowledge of the HL7 messaging standards.
5. What does ADT stand for?
The ADT acronym stands for Admission / Discharge / Transfer. The ADT group consists of a collection of message types that are used for patient administration functionality. The HL7 ADT collection is the most commonly used for point-to-point exchange of patient demographic information between different applications. Admitting a patient and discharging a patient are real world events that trigger the ADT A01 and ADT A03 messages, respectively.
"HL7" is a registered trademark of Health Level Seven (HL7), Inc.
DICOM is a registered trademark of the National Electrical Manufacturer's Association